Soldier Who Died in Vietnam War Gets Belated Honor
In battle, there is no greater act of valor than to lay down your life so others may live. On Wednesday at the White House, a soldier was honored for the sacrifice made a long time ago. CBS News correspondent David Martin tells his story.
In a modest Pennsylvania neighborhood, there’s a shrine to America’s newest hero: Leslie Sabo, killed 42 years ago in the Vietnam War. It has been kept all these years by Sabo’s widow, Rose. She was 20 and he was 21.
“We had 31 days together,” she tells Martin.
“31 days.”
“And then he left for Vietnam,” Rose said.
In May of 1970, Bravo Company crossed from Vietnam into Cambodia to disrupt the enemy’s sanctuaries and ran smack into an ambush. Eight soldiers, including Leslie Sabo, were killed.
“All they told me was that he had been killed by enemy fire. That’s all I knew,” said Rose.
But decades later, a researcher found reports of the battle buried in the stacks at the National Archives. One document was an affidavit signed by Teb Stocks. He read it Wednesday for the first time since 1970.
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“What Les Sabo did that day,” said Stocks, tearing up, “is almost indescribable.”